TROY -- A 69-year-old city man will spend a decade behind bars for repeatedly sexually abusing a preteen boy last year.

Ernest B. Warren Jr., of 87 Second Ave., pleaded guilty March 29 to first-degree course of sexual conduct for the abuse, which occurred between May 1 and August 17 of last year at his home, according to prosecutors. The victim was 12 at the time.

According to court papers, Warren engaged in oral sex with the boy on at least two occasions.

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In a statement read by his mother at Warren's sentencing Tuesday, the boy said Warren's actions "made me feel bad about myself."

"Ernie's the kind of person you like at first until you find out what he's really about," the boy wrote. "He did things to me I can never forget."

His mother, in her own statement, said the once-outgoing child is now "very fearful, very self-contained and withdrawn."

"This has changed even the most basic parts of his life," she said.

The woman said Warren ingratiated himself with her family and said she came to see him as an extended family member. She called him a "predator" and said she hoped he will never have contact with children again.

When Warren was arrested on Aug. 24, 2010 by Troy police, he was registered as a Level 2 sex offender for a 1994 sodomy conviction in Washington County for which he served 1 to 3 years in prison, according to the state's sex offender registry.

He was forbidden from having any contact with minors, according to the registry.

He must re-register as a sex offender upon his release from state prison under the terms of his plea deal.